Here for the Office

Jaton had settled into his new quarters and was quite satisfied with his placement. He'd gotten lucky enough to have large windows looking out into space on the starboard side of the saucer section. He slept like the dead that night and was raring to go the following morning.

He bounded out of his bed and into his uniform in less than two minutes. In another two he'd replicated a cup of tea and grabbed some PADDs on his way out the door. He then caught the turbolift and within ten minutes of waking up he was strolling into the Science Department, a special spring in his step. He rounded the corner and rang the doorchime on the CSO's office door.

The advantage of being a Dalacari was an extra pair of hands. The disadvantage of course was an extra need of a chair. Oh, and also you find tasks you need six hands for. She was organizing the already neat and tidy office when she heard the announcer chime, and gave a cheerful smile towards the door, "C'min!" she called out, already halfway through seating herself comfortably in her 'slightly modified' chairs.

She smiled, both halves, and rose to meet him. "Lieutenant Alyl, it's a pleasure to meet you." one half of her entirety mentioned, while the other beckoned to one of the chairs before her desk. "Please, sit. Make yourself comfy. Can I get you some tea?" she offered, the model of hospitality.

“Oh, thank you, but I’m all set,” he said, holding up the still half full cup of tea. He settled into the chair before the desk and put down the cup and PADDs. “So are you the person who’s been serving as the interim CSO?”

"Yes indeed." she offered cheerfully, moving to get herself a refill on her tea before joining him at her desk. "I've been doing my best to keep the department smooth and well stocked. There are a few measures I'd *like* to implement but..."

"... at the moment they're not practical. Drone assistants, for one." she smiled in stereo. "But the amount of infrastructural backbone needed for them to really be..."

"... effective and efficient, not worth it. Anyhow, you're here, you're a guest. How can I help you?"

"Well, funny thing..." Jaton began. He slid one of the PADDs over to the twin forms of Ensign Tang. "I'm the new CSO."

Now, most people's reaction to hearing their boss had just showed up would vary. Some would be upset. Some would dare to challenge. Others would rant and scream.

Rostra took a look over at the offered PaDD with one set of eyes, and continued to give him a cheerful smile with the other form. Even when she got to the part that effectively said that this wasn't her office anymore, she just smiled, "Oh that's excellent. I finally get to meet the person I was supposed to be working with the whole time. Oh fantastic." she said, cheerful, as she moved out from behind the desk.

"I don't have much in the way of personalization, but I'll have it all removed for you before tomorrow. Just... can I keep the chairs?" the pair each motioned to one different chair.

"Do you know how hard it is to find comfy chairs, that accommodate tails, on a Starfleet vessel? I actually had to have these custom made." she said with a giggle. Oh it was a hoot.

"Oh by all means. I shan't have any use for them. I'm just glad you're taking this so well. If I have to confess, this is my first stint as the head of the department. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you. So let's go over with what's been going on in the department."

"Taking it well?" she tilted both her heads quizzically. "I mean, how else would I take it?" she then came to a realization. "Ohhh, right, some people would throw a fit. Not a good idea for co-workers." she said with a pair of smiles.

"Yeah, this isn't a threat or a political move. I was keeping the office tidy for you." she stated, "I guess Dalacari don't view it as occupational competition like others would."

She took her seats, then took a seat each. "As for the operational state of the labs, I like to keep things at as optimum a level that I can. Though still waiting to hear back on seeing if I can integrate..."

"... some key Dalacari technology to really improve efficiency. Sorry, my manners." she took a moment to compose herself. "I'm very much looking forward to working with you."

“As am I. So what’s this key Dalacari technology? I’m familiar with your species as there was a Dalacari on my last ship, but I’m not familiar with the unique characteristics of your technology.”

"First, you have to promise not to jump to conclusions until after the presentation." She smiled. "The device is known as a Thinking Engine. It's a triple core star-array..."

"... quantum calculation engine. It calculates the decision path to greatest success based on current data and a projected outcome. As each decision along the way is ..."

"... tried and the outcome tallied, it adjusts its calculations. It generates step by step guides on how to achieve a certain result." she explained, "We use them back on Dalacar for just..."

"... about any menial decision to help us get along with our day to day. Wardrobe selection, GPS routes to get from place to place, though that's just the surface. It could..."

"... help monitor experiments that have to run over several days and project times that living supervision would be necessary." she provided a benefit to it. "The only downside is they are..."

"... powerhogs. They need a lot of power to function, and they demand exotic resources to function at peak. They have to be kept cold." a pause, "Very cold. Otherwise they overheat..."

"... quickly. All in all, though, I think it's worth at least investigating."

Jaton was quiet for a moment, nodding as he took it in. “It’s an interesting idea. I do like being hands-on as much as possible, but I suppose having redundancies can’t hurt. I wonder thoughif it’d be possible to integrate this into a Federation holographic interface. What you have described reminds me of the Emergency Medical Hologram and its descendant projects that are standard on all Starfleet ships, but able to work more long-term. We could take this and fashion it into a Long-term Science Hologram.”

"It's possible, but just know that it's not an AI. No no, we're not allowed to research into artificial consciousness or intelligence. It's just a calculation engine." she was quick to point that out.

"They don't have avatars, unless we form one for them. Even then they're basic and generic. Our defense accord with the Ts'usugi limits us on researching artificial..."

"... consciousness. They say it's for our own good and believe me, I believe them."

"Hmm. I suppose. I just thought it might be useful to have a humanoid interface. But that might be a discussion for another time."

She gave a nod. Nevermind that if it were to have a holographic interface, it *should* be a Dalacari representation. But, like he said, that was a discussion for another time.

"Will there be anything else then?" she asked with a smile, while her forms gathered up the few belongings she had put into the office. As she said, she expected this so she didn't put up wallpaper or anything.

"No, I think that'll do it for me. I want to thank you for holding down the fort until I got here."

"Of course. I'll let you get settled in then." a pause, a longer pause. "I'm not supposed to leave until you dismiss me. It's in the rules." she gave a pair of smirks.

"Oh, of course! Dismissed, ensign. And thank you once again." Jaton returned the smile and turned to the work on the desk as she left.